P-59

How is it possible to improve hospital health care by applying the possibilities offered by 3D technologies? That’s a question that rises after experiments of the MST (Medisch Spectrum Twente) together with FabLab Enschede. First experiments showed proof of principle, but rose some technical and organizational questions. Building on this fundament, healthcare students investigated preliminary the developments within MST concerning 3D printing within healthcare.

In the current project an overview of the state of the art is investigated, in which the medical applications of 3D techniques practice are compared with the newest scientific researches. Two graduation students are working on different departments within the MST hospital, both mouth, jaw and countenance oncology and radiotherapy. One student focusses on mould room applications of 3D printed masks and accessories within the department of radiotherapy to improve the process of radiation therapy of the patients. These results will be shown at the conference. Another student currently investigates the opportunities of 3D printing within the department of mouth, jaw and countenance oncology, where the auto transplantation of the wisdom teeth is a process which needs improvement. This research is ongoing. All this research should lead to a roadmap of innovation for the MST hospital, in which the possibilities of 3D techniques are described to facilitate innovation of healthcare within the MST.

All this attention around 3D techniques within the MST, already resulted in a great interest for using these techniques and created support for a possible continuation of the project of different departments within the MST. Now the departments ENT, plastic surgery, pediatrics, traumatology, orthopedics and dental surgery are all interested in collaborating in this project with all kinds of cases. Cases such as a 3D printed cranium for preoperative consultation, a 3D printed canula after a laryngectomy (removing the larynx), moulds for breast reconstruction, children wheelchair parts and prostheses, and so on.